Talk:Christmas Eve

Is Christmas Eve' the entire day before Christmas Day, or just the evening before?
Is Christmas Eve' the entire day before Christmas Day, or just the evening before?

Eve is short for evening, Christmas eve is NOT the day before Christmas, merely the evening before. The article needs to be revised. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.105.198.172 (talk) 02:19, 16 December 2007 (UTC)

An interpretation of "The day of christmas Eve'" could just mean the day in which Christmas Eve' (providing that Christamas Eve' is just the evening) falls on. As in one could say "the day of analogue switch-over", this doesn't mean that the enitre day is called 'analogue switch-over', it means that this is a day in which a channel three region's analogue transmitter closes consumer transmisions, so I'm thinking that "The day of Christmas Eve'" is just refering to the day in which Chrismtas Eve' falls upon.

Though I'm also thinking Christmas Eve' is the entire day.

Does anyone know? Which one is it? Rob Del Monte 02:36, 24 December 2006 (UTC)


 * I believe that Christmas Eve can refer to the day or evening of 24 December. However, if you take the etymology of the word 'eve', it comes from a 12th Century variant of the word 'even' which is archaic for evening. Chris Buttigieg 10:18, 24 December 2006 (UTC)

Given that 'eve' means evening, and that other articles on wikipedia reference Christmas Eve as the night before Christmas, I have changed the front page of this article to reflect this. Thanks. -Mark —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.191.246.3 (talk) 19:18, 21 December 2009 (UTC)


 * The OED defines 'eve' as: The evening, and hence usually the day before a Saint's day or other church festival. Hence gen. the evening, or the day, before any date or event. There is clearly not a definite answer to the question. The article should reflect this. People should not assume that words have one meaning. 'Eve' does not just mean 'evening', as evidenced from the OED. --Tom dl (talk) 04:23, 24 December 2009 (UTC)
 * This is simple: Look to the left, to the other language Wikipedias. The holiday is there referred to as "Julafton/-aften" ("Christmas Evening"), "Nochebuena" (the "Good Night"), "Heiliger Abend" ("Holy Night") etc. Christmas is rung in by the church bells all over Europe at six o'clock on Christmas Eve, when Christmas begins. -62.63.246.247 (talk) 13:59, 29 December 2010 (UTC)
 * No. It's not that simple. Dictionary definitions of pieces of colloquial expressions do not give you the meaning of the full expression. Where I live (Australia) there is absolutely no question that Christmas Eve refers to the whole day before Christmas Day. I cannot speak for the rest of the English speaking world, but it's quite inappropriate of you to insist that you are right and make unilateral changes to the document. I will now revert those as well until further discussion has occurred. This discussion must cover the reality that at least in some place Christmas Eve refers to the whole day. HiLo48 (talk) 22:01, 29 December 2010 (UTC)
 * The entire day IS called Christmas Eve. There is no dispute on that. But the traditional celebration of Christmas starts in the evening (hence the name - eve is derived from evening). It is the current version which is based on dictionary definitions. My changes where properly sourced and accurate, and in no way contradicts the whole day bearing the name Christmas Eve. I am reverting back. -62.63.246.82 (talk) 13:07, 30 December 2010 (UTC)

I do not have access to the OED but the dictionaries that I have found usually list 'Christmas Eve' as having 'evening' as the first definition (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Christmas+Eve). It is clearly a topic which cannot be settled, but given that 'eve' logically follows a shortening of 'evening', it doesn't seem logical to assume that 'Christmas Eve' is a whole day. Please revert back to evening only. Thanks. -Mark — Preceding unsigned comment added by Markpimentel (talk • contribs) 13:40, 24 December 2009 (UTC)


 * The reality appears to simply be that one definition applies in some parts of the world and the other in the rest of the world. That's not a problem. Language is like that. What IS a problem is when someone insists that the way they do something is the way everyone else does it. Obviously the article simply has to mention that both usages exist. HiLo48 (talk) 12:20, 30 December 2010 (UTC)


 * Endorse HiLo48's suggestion. I am familiar with both uses, and use both senses myself - I don't perceive a conflict between the two, nor do I believe that it helps the encyclopedia to choose one over the other.
 * -- Joren (talk) 13:30, 30 December 2010 (UTC)


 * The article, as it stands now, clearly states that Christmas Eve is the day (it is a day in the calendar in all countries I know of) that contains the first evening of Christmas. This is sourced to both catholic and orthodox liturgy (protestant denominations often don't have formal liturgical definitions, but this is also the way it is in the Lutheran and Anglican traditions). This kind of covers the world.
 * I don't think that there is a contradiction here, really. Most people don't think to much about formal definitions. They just look at the calendar and see that it is Christmas Eve and have no idea that formally the celebration of Christmas begins in the evening. Nor do many people care about the religious meaning of the holiday much or about the church. That's the way it is in my country. People do not know when Christmas begins, even though church bells ring it in all over the country in the evening. Most people would probably say that Christmas begins at three o'clock, when Donald Duck goes on TV, sadly. -62.63.246.82 (talk) 14:24, 30 December 2010 (UTC)

In my country it's a whole day when the name is identical to English. The main part of the day is evening dinner so name is crated from evening event. It's like American Black Friday which sometimes starts at Thanksgiving day or lasts to the end of weekend. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.28.52.120 (talk) 17:54, 30 November 2013 (UTC)

And again an issue in 2017
Now it incorrectly states "the evening or entire day". Walter Görlitz (talk) 04:12, 4 November 2017 (UTC)
 * It isn't "incorrect" at all, the term "eve" literally means evening. Multiple sources refer to it as the evening before Christmas, while others the entire day. It isn't "incorrect" to state that "Christmas Eve" is variably referred to as either the evening or entire day prior to Christmas Day. In Christian contexts especially, and you claim to be a Christian, "Eve" refers explicitly and exclusively to the night before. —  Crumpled Fire   • contribs • 04:58, 4 November 2017 (UTC)
 * It is incorrect as it cannot be either or, it's either one or the other, not both. I never liked the conjunction. Proposing, "Christmas Eve is the evening before Christmas Day. In some regions the celebration has grown to encompass the entire day, where it is observed as a full or partial holiday in anticipation of Christmas Day. It is primarily a festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth." Keeping all the references, etc. Walter Görlitz (talk) 18:13, 6 November 2017 (UTC)
 * I support that proposal, and perhaps we could even add a bit about the term "Christmas Eve Day", which is also a term that is sometimes used by those wishing to emphasize that they are referring to the entire day of December 24. —  Crumpled Fire   • contribs • 15:24, 12 November 2017 (UTC)
 * Of course it can be both. That's language!
 * And it is truely both, with "Heiligabend" you can refer to the day or the evening. Destranix (talk) 14:41, 14 October 2023 (UTC)

External links modified
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 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20090104151340/http://www.discover-bulgaria.com/Travel_Results.aspx?CategoryID=450 to http://www.discover-bulgaria.com/Travel_Results.aspx?CategoryID=450
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20091106084454/http://www.clubzone.com/events/Vancouver/165256/Twas-the-Night-Before-Christmas-at-Tonic to http://www.clubzone.com/events/Vancouver/165256/Twas-the-Night-Before-Christmas-at-Tonic

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 * What does the clubzone reference actually support? Walter Görlitz (talk) 04:14, 4 November 2017 (UTC)

An anon seems to want to change the lede
The editor has insulted my nationality and my hasty typing, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Christmas_Eve&type=revision&diff=863349834&oldid=863349627 Any takers on the changes? Walter Görlitz (talk) 06:43, 10 October 2018 (UTC)
 * I've reverted, since they were trying to bludgeon their changes through. Their changes didn't appear to be vandalism though, and there is a point there which might be worth discussing - hopefully they'll come here to talk about it. Has there been discussion of this wording in the past that you're aware of? (I'm not familiar with this page, just came here through recent changes patrolling). Girth Summit  (blether)  06:48, 10 October 2018 (UTC)
 * The primary change is "Jesus" to "Jesus Christ", without changing the link, and "Christmas Day is observed around the world, and Christmas Eve is widely observed as a full or partial holiday in anticipation of Christmas Day" to "Christmas Eve is observed around the world as a full or partial holiday in anticipation of Christmas Day, or in some cultures as the main celebration in lieu of Christmas Day" (bold to show the added and removed content). First, I know of no nations where Christmas Eve is celebrated, and Christmas Day not celebrated. In Germany and Scandinavia, gifts are exchanged on Christmas Eve, but Christmas Day is the statutory holiday, not Christmas Eve. This seems like WP:OR to me.
 * The current lede was the result of WP:CONSENSUS (the RfC above and other discussions here) so, if we are going to change, it should be through consensus. Walter Görlitz (talk) 06:50, 10 October 2018 (UTC)
 * Thanks - I've been reading through the history above, there's been a lot of discussion about this point over the years. Agree that consensus needs to be reached to make these changes. Girth Summit  (blether)  06:56, 10 October 2018 (UTC)

Merge of Nochebuena here
Nochebuena is just the Spanish word for Christmas Eve. Therefore merging Nochebuena into this page should be obvious and uncontroversial. --Jotamar (talk) 22:49, 20 December 2021 (UTC)
 * Note: the creator and main contributors to Nochebuena seem to be all anonymous or currently inactive editors. --Jotamar (talk) 23:21, 20 December 2021 (UTC)

I have completed the inclusion in this page of most of the old Nochebuena article. I've left out the section In popular culture, which is of very little relevance, it referred mostly to the use of the word nochebuena in English language media. I've also left out the really poor section about Spain. --Jotamar (talk) 09:20, 6 March 2022 (UTC)
 * Merge There's no reason to distinguish the same holiday in English from its translation in Spanish. I understand there's a perception that because the holiday is celebrated differently in certain regions, it's effectively a different holiday, but many holidays with widespread observance vary vastly in their traditions. It seems very arbitrary to make this particular distinction. I'm not aware that this Wikipedia makes the distinction for Christmas eve with any other language and the Spanish Wikipedia uses "nochebuena" to simply refer to Christmas Eve. Arecaceæ2011 (talk) 20:22, 5 January 2022 (UTC)
 * Merge any sourced content, and without WP:OVERLINKs. It might also make sense to move it to observance of Christmas by country, as that it was it focuses on. Walter Görlitz (talk) 06:36, 7 January 2022 (UTC)

Why is there a section about Nikolaus when talking about Christmas presents?
"In Germany, the gifts are also brought on 6 December by "the Nikolaus" with his helper Knecht Ruprecht"

Actually the gifts received are not Christmas presents. It's something separated. Also the gifts are given by various different persons, not only "Knecht Ruprecht" but also by "Nikolaus" or "Pelzmärtel" (actually seems to be a different name for "Knecht Ruprecht", but is not handled that way).

Maybe instead one could just link to some 6.December article instead. Destranix (talk) 14:37, 14 October 2023 (UTC)

Can someone add the state of origin to the image captioned, "Seven traditional Christmas Eve dishes 2014"
There is an image captioned "seven traditional Christmas Eve dishes 2014". I have lived in the United States for my whole life and never seen most of those seven traditional Christmas Eve dishes. The food looks delicious, but can someone re-caption the image to have the nationality or ethnic background included?

"Seven traditional Christmas Eve dishes of [Insert Name of Ethnic Group Here]"

Also, the text for the year "2014" should be omitted for this particular photograph since a food item is traditional only if there exists a time before the advent of electronic computer systems at which that time was consumed. 50.205.174.222 (talk) 20:07, 16 December 2023 (UTC)


 * The Description of that image in Wikimedia Commons says "This photo has been taken in the country: Bulgaria". The photo is right beside the article content for Bulgaria. I'm not sure whether that's enough to add that country to the caption. The year 2014 is the year the photo was taken. I see no problem with it remaining. HiLo48 (talk) 02:39, 17 December 2023 (UTC)
 * I've changed the picture caption as suggested. --Jotamar (talk) 22:12, 18 December 2023 (UTC)